Symphony Lake

It was very cloudy and raining a little for this almost 12 mile hike along the South Fork Eagle River Trail with the Valley Wanderers. But it was a nice temperature for hiking. The fog and clouds were hiding the mountain tops, which was a little disappointing. But it was still beautiful and peaceful. There have been several stories of brown bears with cubs charging people on the trail, so I was sure to bring my bear spray. But we had a group of 8, which tends to keep the bears away. We didn't see very many other hikers, most likely due to the unsettled weather. The forecast only mentioned clouds, but we had light rain for most of the day. They have been making wonderful improvements to this trail. Instead of crossing large streams, they had built some nice foot bridges, and raised walkways across the swampy areas. But they are not finished with the project, so we did encounter many very swampy muddy places that were quite challenging at times. My waterproof hiking shoes managed to keep my feet dry. There are two very nice wooden bridges that crossed the river. The river was very high due to the warm temperatures and the recent rain. Everything is very green now and all of the snow was gone in the valley. Once we crossed the second bridge, we were into the large boulder field. Rosemary and I got separated from the others and found our way through the rocks. The way we had chosen was not the most efficient, but it was fun and challenging. Lots of rock scrambling. We finally caught up with Judith and Michelle by the wooden structure overlooking Symphony Lake. The others came along about 10 minutes later. We had some food then started our way back down. We had a much better route back to the bridge. Sometimes trails are easier to find on the way down. This was the case today. We didn't need to do quite as much rock bouldering and reached the bridge fairly quickly. We found that if we followed the red flags that the trail workers had placed marking where the improved parts of the trail would be, we stayed out of the wettest spots. It will be a much nicer hike once they finish the proposed improvements. In a way I suppose it might take away some of the challenge. But I'm OK with that. It's a spectacular valley and I look forward to hiking it again with better weather so I can really see the view. This hike might have been difficult for my dog Baby if she had still been with me. So much mud and water. But I sure wish I'd been able to carry her in my little doggie backpack. I really feel her absence on the trails. I consider that her spirit is hiking along with me. I have the butterfly from her Halloween costume pinned to my pack so I feel I am taking a part of her with me on the trails. I miss you Baby.